Isuzu Motors Ltd.(いすゞ自動車株式会社,Isuzu
Jidōsha Kabushiki-gaisha
?), (TYO: 7202) is a Japanese car, commercial vehicle
and heavy truck manufacturing company, headquartered in Tokyo. In 2005, Isuzu became the world's largest
manufacturer of medium to heavy duty trucks. It has assembly and
manufacturing plants in the Japanese city of Fujisawa,
as well as in the prefectures Tochigi and Hokkaidō. Isuzu is famous for producing
commercial vehicles and diesel engines - it produced 16 million
diesel engines in 2003 alone, which can be found in vehicles all
over the world.

In most of Asia, Africa, and Europe, Isuzu is mostly known for trucks of all
sizes, after Isuzu small automobile sales drastically plummeted and
Isuzu had to drop all sales of sedans and compact cars in the late
1990s. In the United
States, Isuzu has ceased selling passenger vehicles. Isuzu as a
corporation has always been primarily a manufacturer of small to
medium compact automobiles and commercial trucks of sizes medium
duty and larger, but markets around the world show different needs.
Isuzu has a contract with Budget Truck Rental to manufacture
their rental trucks. This contract is also shared with Ford, GMC,
and Navistar International. [1]

1993 - Isuzu ceases to export the Stylus (Geo
Spectrum), its last cars in America, after ending the Impulse
(Geo Storm) the year
before.

1994 - Isuzu announces new vehicle exchange program with Honda, providing Honda with the Isuzu
Rodeo (to be sold as the Honda Passport) and Isuzu Trooper (to
be sold as the Acura
SLX) and providing Isuzu with the Honda Odyssey (to be sold as the Isuzu
Oasis). This has the effect of adding two SUVs to Honda's lineup
and a minivan to Isuzu's lineup.

1996 - Isuzu's sales peak in the United States. The Isuzu Hombre pickup
was introduced.

1999 - GM raises its stake in Isuzu to 49%, effectively gaining
control of the company. GM quickly follows this up with the
appointment of an American GM executive to head Isuzu's North
American Operations. This is the first time a non-Japanese
executive has ever held such a high position at Isuzu. The U.S.
introduction of the production version of the heralded VehiCROSS is
met with mixed reviews, as its high pricetag, unique styling and
two-door configuration don't seem to meet with market demands.

2000 - Concept convertible version of the VehiCROSS appears in
the movie Mission to Mars.

2001 - Joe Isuzu,
the immensely popular pitchman with implausible claims, is hired
once again to promote the new Axiom. Isuzu sales begin to slide due to
the aging of the Rodeo and Trooper, and poor management & lack
of assistance from GM. Isuzu changes the name of the 2-door Amigo
convertible to Rodeo Sport in an attempt to associate it with the
better selling 4-door Rodeo. Movie Spy kids features Isuzu
Axiom and Trooper.

Early 2002 - Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru's parent company)
buys Isuzu's share of Lafayette, Indiana plant. Subaru Isuzu
Automotive (SIA) becomes Subaru of
Indiana Automotive. After 8 years of heavy Honda Passport sales
and light Isuzu Oasis sales, Honda and Isuzu cooperatively end
their vehicle exchange agreement. The Oasis is dropped, and Honda
replaces the Passport with the Pilot. Also, it was Isuzu's last
year for passenger vehicles in Canada, as Isuzus in Canada were mostly sold at
Saturn-Saab dealerships.

Late 2002 - Isuzu begins the re-purchase of its stock from
shareholders, primarily General Motors. Isuzu reduces GM's 49%
share to 12% as part of this comprehensive recapitalization plan.
As part of this reorganization, GM gains full control of DMAX and Isuzu
Motors Polska, as well as ownership of all diesel engine
designs from Isuzu. Isuzu drops the venerable Trooper from the
North American lineup.

2003 - The Rodeo Sport is discontinued.

July 2004 - Production of the Rodeo and Axiom cease. Sales in
North America slow to just 27,188, with the discontinued Rodeo and
Axiom making up 71% of that total. The number of Isuzu dealerships
in the U.S. begins a rapid decline.

2005 - Isuzu dealers in the United States have only 2 models:
the Ascender and the i-series pickup truck. The i-series is a
rebadged Chevrolet Colorado, the Ascender is a re-badged GMC Envoy.
At this point, Isuzu in the United States is primarily a
distributor of medium duty trucks such as the NPR series. These
vehicles are sourced both from Japan and U.S. plants in Janesville,
WI and Flint, MI. Isuzu has 290 light-vehicle dealers in the U.S.
as of August 2006, and sells an average of just two Ascenders per
dealer per month. Plans to introduce a new Thai-built SUV, expected to be added for
2007, are shelved; Isuzu Motors Limited believes that a new SUV
would be too risky and proceeds with the launch of the i-series
trucks. Rumors of Isuzu's withdrawal from the U.S. market are
rampant. Despite extremely low sales figures of 12,177 passenger
vehicles for 2005 (with leftover Axiom and Rodeos making up 30% of
this), Isuzu Motors America announces its first profit in years,
mainly due to restructuring cuts.

2006 - Production of the 7-passenger Ascender ends in February
with the closure of GM's Oklahoma City Assembly plant,
leaving Isuzu with the 5-passenger Ascender, built in Moraine, Ohio, and
the low-selling i-Series as its only retail products. The company
sold just 1,504 vehicles in North America in the first two months
of 2006. Isuzu finally purchases its remaining shares from GM, but
claims the companies will continue their current relationship.
There is no word as of April 12, 2006 on the effect this will have
on DMAX USA operations.

June 2006 - Isuzu and GM Agree to establish Joint Venture
called "LCV Platform Engineering Corporation (LPEC)" to develop a
new pickup. Isuzu says it will use its engineering expertise to
develop the pickup and GM will develop derivatives based on the
integrated platform.

November 2006 - Toyota purchases 5.9% of Isuzu and the two
companies agree to study possible business collaboration focusing
on the areas of R&D and production of diesel engines, related
emissions-control, and other environmental technologies.

January 2007 - Isuzu, along with General Motors Companies,
release an update to the LCV range, with a 3.0 litre common rail
diesel motor, with far more torque and power to its
predecessor

August 2007 - Isuzu and Toyota agree to develop a 1.6-liter
diesel engine for use in Toyota vehicles sold in European markets.
Details of development, production and supply of the diesel engine,
are still under discussion, but in principle, Isuzu will play the
leading role. Production is scheduled to begin around 2012.

January 30, 2008 - Isuzu announces complete withdrawal from the
US market,[2]
effective January 31, 2009. It will continue to provide support and
parts. The decision was mainly affected by slowing sales. Isuzu had
been experiencing a slow decline since the late 1990s. In less than
10 years, they had gone from selling a complete line of cars,
trucks, and SUVs, into being a specialized SUV maker, and finally
selling only a pair of rebadged, General Motors Trucks.[3] They
will continue to sell commercial vehicles in the U.S.[4]

January 29, 2009 - Isuzu and General Motors announce that they
are in talks to transfer the operation of the medium-duty truck
production line in Flint, Michigan to Isuzu for a
five-year period. In June, however, GM announced that these talks
failed to reach an agreement, and GM ceased production of the Chevrolet
Kodiak and GMC Topkick vehicles on July 31, 2009.[5]

Buses
(Philippines)

LV314K

LV314L

CJM470

CJM500

PABFTR33PLB

FTR33P

LT132

LT423

LV123

Buses
(Thailand)

CQA 650 A/T

LV223S

LV423R

LV486R

MT113QB

Leaving U.S.
market

On January 30, 2008, Isuzu Motors America announced that it
would discontinue the sale of passenger vehicles in the United
States effective January 31, 2009. The company explained to its
dealers that it had not been able to secure replacements for the Isuzu Ascender
and Isuzu
i-Series that would be commercially viable. Isuzu sold 7,098
cars in the year 2007.

Most Isuzu U.S. passenger vehicle dealers became service and
parts dealers. They continue to honor the warranties of Isuzu
vehicles and still sell parts and accessories. Isuzu became the
last automaker of the 2000s to withdraw from North American
sales.

This action did not affect Isuzu's commercial vehicle or
industrial diesel engine operations in the United States.